The Kansas City Knights was the name of an American Basketball Association minor league

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

team based in Kansas City, Missouri. They have not played since the 2004–05 season.

Franchise history

The Knights were one of the ABA's charter franchises and began play during the 2000–01 season. In 2001–02, the following season, the Knights posted a league best 35–5 record that year and ended up winning the ABA championship under head coach and

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. T ...

alumnus Kevin Pritchard. Soon after winning the title, the ABA took the year off to re-organize. The ABA then resumed play in the 2003–2004 season. The Knights competed in the ABA for the 2003–04 and the 2004-05 seasons before going dark for 2005–06. It was announced via a press release on the team's website that the team would suspend operations until a suburban arena was built in Johnson County, KS. The team intended to play at an interim location once ground was broken on the new arena, but plans for the arena remain in limbo and there has been no word from the team's owners since. However, operation of the youth developmental "Knights Academy" program is ongoing. Since the Knights folded, several ABA teams have appeared and disappeared in the Kansas City area. None of these teams are related to the Knights or have been as successful. The current ABA team in the Kansas City area is the Kansas City Soul.

Players of note

Jason Sasser Jason Jermane Sasser (born January 3, 1974) is an American former professional basketball player. He was a 6'7" (201 cm) 225 lb (102 kg) small forward who graduated Justin F. Kimball High School in Dallas, Texas, and played collegia ...

* Nick Bradford *

Antoine Carr Antoine Labotte Carr (born July 23, 1961) is an American retired basketball player. Nicknamed "Big Dawg", he played power forward (and sometimes center) for six different teams in the National Basketball Association across 16 seasons. Early life ...

* Maurice Carter * Joe Crispin *

Eddie Gill Edward Gill III (born August 16, 1978) is an American former professional basketball player. Gill was born played college basketball at the College of Eastern Utah, Salt Lake Community College, and Weber State University. With the Weber State ...

* Anthony Goldwire *Derek "Buck" Grimm *

Pete Mickeal Fenton Pete Mickeal (born February 22, 1978) is an American former professional basketball player, that served as an NBA scout for the Minnesota Timberwolves and Washington Wizards. He was selected by the Dallas Mavericks in the second round, wit ...

*Ryan Sears * Paul Shirley * Doug Smith *

David Vanterpool David Vanterpool (born March 31, 1973) is an American professional basketball coach and former player. He most recently served as an assistant coach for the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). During his playing career, he ...

* Rex Walters * Jeff Boschee *Jeff Graves *Daniel Coulson *Ernest Brown

References

{{Reflist Defunct American Basketball Association (2000–present) teams Defunct basketball teams in the United States Sports in Kansas City, Missouri 2000 establishments in Missouri 2004 disestablishments in Missouri Basketball teams established in 2000 Basketball teams disestablished in 2004